Beijing hits back at Joe Biden’s plans to put ‘China challenge’ on G7 agenda
- Foreign ministry statement warns against ‘exclusive cliques’ and ideological confrontation ahead of Friday’s meeting
- Group of Seven virtual talks will be the new US president’s first since taking office in January
It will be US President Joe Biden’s first G7 meeting since taking office in January. The group of leaders last met in April.
Asked about the meeting and its agenda, Beijing said it was opposed to “clique politics” and ideological confrontation.
“We oppose group politics based on ideological divides, forming exclusive cliques, and imposing the will of a minority group of countries over international society,” China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
“Behaviours like these will not gain popularity among the international community, nor will they benefit the countries themselves, and will only push the world towards divide and even confrontation.”
The foreign ministry added that all international meetings should be conducive to multilateralism, and global affairs should be collectively managed by different nations.
“We hope that everyone will work together to make this world better instead of worse, more peaceful instead of more turbulent, and more united instead of more divided,” it said.
China, already locked in its rivalry with the United States, has seen relations fray with several other G7 members, including Britain – which has presidency of the group this year and will host a face-to-face leaders’ summit in June – and Canada.
On Tuesday, Beijing called Canada “hypocritical and despicable” for leading a coalition of the US and 57 other countries in a non-binding denunciation of the state-sponsored arbitrary detention of foreign nationals.
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Tensions have also been brewing between Beijing and London over a range of issues, including Hong Kong and Huawei. Their differences intensified last week when British media regulators revoked the licence of Chinese state-owned international news channel CGTN. China has also banned the BBC.
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The G7 is an informal bloc of Western industrialised nations comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US. It meets annually to discuss issues such as the global economy and international security.
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The bloc’s share of global GDP has shrunk from nearly 70 per cent three decades ago to about one-third today. Critics have argued that its importance has diminished alongside other, broader platforms, such as the G20, which includes China and India and is seen as more representative of the world economy.
